New tales of the Gobi Desert
Sing Yin Secondary School, Du Hoi Ming, Fiction: Group 4
T
he sun burned right above, painting everything golden-yellow, vaporizing every bit
of moisture off the land. There was also a wind, blowing from all directions. The Gobi
Desert was just like an ocean in yellow, without boundaries, wide and clear.
Scorpy dared not to stick his head out of the sand. It is dazzling hot outside, he
thought. As a yellow sand scorpion, he could only stay under the thick sand during the daytime.
If he dared to come out, the penetrating sunlight would squeeze out every bit of his bodily fluid,
leaving an empty shell behind.
He was starving. He hadn’t eaten for about a week, and his body could hardly move. ‘The
camel which my brothers and I poisoned last week wasn’t a very tasty meal, never liked camels
much. They have too much fat, and too little meat. A hundred of us needed to share that creature!
The Gobi Desert is just another name for famine anyway… Mum once told me that creatures called
humans are all over the world, and they ride into the Gobi desert for fun because they think it’s
mysterious, and beautiful. Once their ancestors lived here too! But that was a long time ago, when
grasses hadn’t turned into sand.’
He checked on the sharp pin in his rear. ‘The weapon is still sharp, hopefully I can find
something to eat today.’ The deadly sting was daunting under the sunlight. Unlike any other parts
of his body, his sting was purple in color, indicating one of the most deadly toxins. It could kill
any creature, no matter how big in size, in one shot. But there was no one to sting onto…
Scorpy hid under a cliff, avoiding direct contact with the sunlight. He saw a man with a
disheveled mustache and hair lying down to rest wearing worn out clothes. He crawled ahead,
never in his life had he looked so close at a human being. ‘It looks like a wise creature, I wanna
talk to him before I end his life.’
‘Hey!’ he shouted.
‘Uh huh?’ the man woke up grumbling. He looked around, but saw no one calling him.
‘Down here!’
The man looked down, Scorpy saw his eyes turned into a round sphere, and his mouth opened
widely. He rubbed his eyes, again and again. It didn’t change a thing. A scorpion was laying there
talking to him. ‘Am I dead already?’ he repeatedly asked himself.
‘No, you’re not! Well, though I would be very much happy to take your life, because I’m
starving and you look delicious.’
‘Please don’t sting me! I’ve been lost with my teammates for 3 weeks. I’ve used up my last
piece of food, and last drop of water, and now I’m hallucinating, seeing desert creatures talk. Just
like they did in Le Petit Prince.’
‘What is Le Petit Prince?’
‘It’s a book about an alien prince who died in the desert. A snake bit him and there he went,
peacefully, without any pain…. He once said, “What makes the desert beautiful is that it hides,
somewhere, a well.” Maybe, that’s also why I’m still breathing today, not giving up hope. I’ve
walked in the burning sun, the freezing night. The Gobi Desert is beautiful, it’s almost the most
mysterious place in the world. For more than three weeks I’ve been tormented by this desert. I’ve
been to several before, but the Gobi Desert is the most deadly. There is no water, only sandstorms.
